Tedder moved from Denver to Los Angeles to become a pop star/uber-producer — no small feat, but something he accomplished nevertheless. Now Tedder is back living in Denver as a platinum-selling, Grammy-nominated musician who is in the middle of building what is sure to be an internationally recognized studio complex near the Country Club neighborhood.

Just last week Tedder — an unassuming guy with an unrecognizable face — was back in the City of Angels, being honored for writing and producing two of the biggest tracks in Top 40 radio history. According to the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP), Leona Lewis’ “Bleeding Love” is the No. 1 most played single in Top 40 radio history — and OneRepublic’s hit “Apologize” follows at No. 2.

Tedder wrote, performed and co-produced his band OneRepublic’s hit “Apologize,” which holds the title of the best-selling single in the digital era with more than 10 million downloads. Tedder also wrote and produced “Bleeding Love,” the best-selling single of 2008, for Leona Lewis, as well as a clutch of other songs (including Beyonce’s hit “Halo”) that have dominated the radio in recent years.

And Tedder’s not stopping. While he is growing more discerning about the artists he works with, he’s still looking forward to a big 2009, a year that will see some of his clients coming to Denver to work with him in the studio.

“I’ve already been talking to different artists including Chris (Cornell), Kelly (Clarkson) and Leona (Lewis), and they’ve all said they’ll come out here to record with me,” Tedder said. “They’re totally excited for it. And so am I. I want Denver to become the next Atlanta, only not all hip-hop. As long as I’m here, I’ll find other acts and get them out here.”

It’s a big change from the day Tedder left the Mile High City.

“When I left Colorado for L.A.,” Tedder said, “I thought I had to go there to be a writer and a performer. And L.A.’s a wonderful place, and you go there to do what you do. But then you get out before it destroys you. I’ve seen it happen to a lot of people. You completely lose your sense of self, and seeing the Fray guys being able to (make their music) comfortably from Denver was encouraging for us.”

Tedder has worked with an array of top artists: Timbaland, Paul Oakenfold, Daughtry, Natasha Bedingfield, Jennifer Lopez and others. He’s a serious presence on Kelly Clarkson’s new “All I Ever Wanted,” and he’s also writing for future projects from Nelly Furtado, Adele, James Morrison, Rascal Flatts, Daughtry and his own OneRepublic.

He could add to Denver’s already impressive musical output. He could also help turn Denver into a hub for production and songwriting. Judging from his peers’ reaction to his work, he won’t have a hard time drawing musicians here.

“Ryan blew me away,” Cornell told The Denver Post. “Around the same period when I got on the phone with Timbaland, we were doing some remixes for ‘Carry On.’ The record company didn’t understand what I wanted. Then Ryan raised his hand, and he took the song ‘Arms Around Your Love’ and did a completely different version of it. He played all the instruments and rearranged it, simplified it, sang the melody a little bit differently. I listened to what he did, and I was blown away — it was totally ‘Let It Be’ by the Beatles.

“I remember thinking, ‘This guy is an unbelievable talent.’ He played everything and engineered it and arranged it and sang a demo vocal over it. It was incredible.”

Tedder’s not forgetting OneRepublic. The band is his No. 1 priority, he said, and he can’t wait to introduce the public to the new songs.

“People who liked ‘Dreaming Out Loud,’ great, they’ll love this,” he said. “But that album came out five or six years ago. They’re good songs, but it’s not the style of music we listen to now. The next album is going to be a completely different animal than ‘Dreaming Out Loud.’ ”

Ricardo Baca is the editor of The Cannabist. After 12 years as The Denver Post's music critic and a couple more as the paper's entertainment editor, he was tapped to become The Post's first ever marijuana editor and create The Cannabist in late-2013. Baca also founded music blog Reverb and co-founded music festival The UMS.